Jets summer Q&A with fullback John Conner

John O'Boyle / The Star-LedgerFullback John Conner could play an important role in the Jets' ground-and-pound offense under Tony Sparano.

Today's Q+A is with John Conner, who is entering his third professional season and second as the starting fullback. The Jets plan to get back to a ground-and-pound offense, and Conner figures to play an important role.

Now that you have learned the new offense, what do you think new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano can do for a fullback?

It seems like it’s going to evolve a fullback-type player a lot, more than last year’s offense. He really likes that ground-and-pound game, which is good for me, so we’ll see. I knew a little bit about him, he was the coach for my team in the Senior Bowl, so I got a little taste of what his style was like. When I heard he was coming, I got excited about that, and I thought it’d be a great fit for us.

Has anything surprised you so far this year?

I don’t get a chance to look at defense too much, but offensively, we’ve got a lot of rookies that are coming in and stepping up. Guys like Chaz (Schilens), guys like Stephen Hill. I mean the whole group is doing well, the offensive line is doing well, and I think everybody is stepping up. We have (Terrance) Ganaway in the running back room, and he’s really been doing some good things. Another big body to complement Shonn (Greene) out there, that’s going to be huge.

Did you set any personal goals this offseason?

I just want to get better as a player and a teammate and just help the team get better. There was nothing from last year I wanted to do differently. I could maybe sharpen my tools a little bit on everything and spend a little more time in the film room and stay after practice, just do the little things that could help me on Sundays.

Are you doing anything fun over the break?

Nothing really. I’ll go home and see the family, maybe take a vacation or two, and then get back to work. Come back in shape for training camp. Nothing crazy planned right now. I’ll definitely have it planned by the time I leave here. I’m going to go somewhere with a beach, though, definitely.